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After more than ten months of negotiations, the intervention of two mediators and two weeks of rotating strikes, Canada Post is more and more showing its true colours. All of its lofty rhetoric and the image it is attempting to project to its employees and the public are turning out to be nothing more than smoke and mirrors. It needs to be said: Canada Post talks the talk, but doesn’t walk the walk.

Today, the mandate of the mediator appointed by the Minister of Labour, Ms.Patti Hajdu, ended. The mediator, Mr. Morton Mitchnick, had been working with the parties since October 24, 2018. In spite of the assistance of the mediator, Canada Post has refused to resolve any of your key issues.

While many of you have been out on the street showing your support for improved health and safety, better working conditions, more permanent work and less precarious employment, improved staffing, fair compensation for all and equality, your negotiating committee has been battling hard and working long hours to make this happen. So far, none of these important demands have been resolved.

Earlier this year an arbitrator ruled that the work of Rural and Suburban Mail Carriers (RSMC) is of equal value to their urban counterparts, but there are still numerous issues to address before RSMCs have rights and conditions that are truly equal.

Your negotiating committee worked long hours all weekend with the assistance of Mediator Morton Mitchnick, in an attempt to unblock what seemed to be an impasse. We met with both the mediator and Canada Post numerous times over the weekend and we will continue to meet with the objective to achieve negotiated settlements. Your negotiators are determined to get the agreements that you deserve.

The introduction of legislation to repeal Bill 148, scrapping minimum wage increases, sick days and all the gains workers have won over the last two years in Ontario should be a wake-up call for Ontario’s labour movement.

On Wednesday, October 24, 2018, Minister of Labour Ms Patty Hajdu appointed Mr. Morton Mitchnick as a special mediator to assist the parties in reaching negotiated collective agreements. Your negotiating committee will work with the special mediator and Mr. Peter Simpson, Director General of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services, to achieve the improvements that we need in our collective agreements.

Today there are thousands of temporary workers at Canada Post. These workers:
Remain at the lowest wage rate although they do the same work as regular employees
Have no job security
Are not covered by the health, dental and sick or disability insurance plans
Have no guaranteed hours
Cannot plan their future

Historically when CUPW has been on strike, we have entered into picket protocols to allow members of UPCE/PSAC, other unions in postal facilities, and workers such as cleaners and cafeteria staff to go to work. However, these protocols do not cover supervisors, management and other senior-level Canada Post staff. This time around, the signed protocol does not cover members in the Canadian Postmasters and Assistants Association (CPAA) bargaining unit. They have refused to sign a protocol with CUPW.

Today the Employer responded to a new proposal aimed at achieving our demand to address overburdening. The answer was NO. The injury rate at Canada Post is the highest of all federal industries and 5.4 times higher than the average of the federal sector. The official line of management is “We are not happy with the results. Clearly more work must be done”.

This week’s release of CPC’s 2017 Social Responsibility Report confirms that there is a health and safety emergency at Canada Post! The report reveals that the most serious injuries (full-day lost time injuries) increased 36% last year. In fact the 2017 lost time injury rate was 46% greater than 2015. In the report the Corporation states “We are not happy with the results. Clearly more work must be done”.

Since the Union issued 72-hour strike notice to Canada Post on Tuesday, October 16, 2018, there has been no response from Canada Post. Your negotiating committee is ready, willing and determined to get back to the bargaining table.

Today, your National Executive Board issued what is known as a “72-hour strike notice” to Canada Post for both the RSMC and Urban units. The National Executive Board has decided that the strike will begin on Monday morning, October 22, 2018, at 00:01 should we not have reached negotiated settlements.

Negotiations are continuing in an effort to achieve new collective agreements for both the RSMC and Urban Operations bargaining units. The parties are working long hours to achieve this goal. We remain committed to negotiating collective agreements, as we have since the beginning of this process. We will not issue a 72-hour notice today.

100 days have now passed since Doug Ford and the Conservatives came to power, and their anti-worker, pro-poverty agenda is already in full swing. In just over three months we have already seen cuts to mental health funding, the cancellation of a school repair fund, the privatization of marijuana sales, the cancellation of the Basic Income pilot, and the proposed repeal of Bill 148, along with a freezing of the minimum wage.

Our public post office distributes government cheques that are a fundamental part of the social safety net. We do not want pensioners and those with low-income to suffer if the union is locked out or forced to strike. After all, our dispute over contract issues should be directed at Canada Post, not the most vulnerable members of our society. In addition, your union wants to make sure that live animals are not trapped in the mail system during a work disruption, as they were in 2011.

Your negotiating committee worked hard all weekend in an attempt to get a negotiated collective agreement. Unfortunately, many key issues remain unresolved. We made some progress but we still have a long way to go to get a good settlement.

Your negotiating committee worked hard all weekend in an attempt to get a negotiated collective agreement. Unfortunately, many key issues remain unresolved. We made some progress but we still have a long way to go to get a good settlement.